The wood is extremely heavy, a cubic foot weighing nearly sixty pounds. It is as hard as it is heavy, and although it takes a high polish and has a fine grain, it soon dulls the edge of a tool.
Before the age of steel, when all ships were wooden, it was much used in shipbuilding, and the government bought large tracts of land where live oak grew abundantly, so that the United States navy should never lack the necessary timber.
It grows along the Atlantic coast, south from Virginia, and along the Gulf to Texas.
CHAPTER VII
BROAD-LEAVED TREES: THE MAPLES
It is the maple family to which we are indebted for much of the glorious coloring of our autumn landscapes.
It is true that all trees play their part in the general color scheme, but for the brilliant reds and scarlets of the fall foliage we must look to the maples.
When we think of the word maple we are apt to have visions of other things besides trees. Maple and sugar or sirup seem to go together, and in fact some of us do not know that there are other maples besides the sugar maple.
This fine American tree is one of which we should be proud. Not only is it a handsome large tree, valuable for its shade and the beautiful colors it wears in the fall, but its wood is hard and valuable,—it is often called rock maple,—and besides all these good qualities it furnishes us with our maple sirup and sugar.
The process of making maple sugar is quite interesting and may be divided into two stages,—gathering the sap, and boiling down.